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. 2020 Jun 5:62:e35.
doi: 10.1590/S1678-9946202062035. eCollection 2020.

Geoprocessing and spatial analysis for identifying leptospirosis risk areas: a systematic review

Isabela Pereira de Oliveira Souza  1 , Marlene Salete Uberti  2 , Wagner de Souza Tassinari  1   3
Affiliations

Geoprocessing and spatial analysis for identifying leptospirosis risk areas: a systematic review

Isabela Pereira de Oliveira Souza et al. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. .

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a reemerging zoonosis caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira sp. with global importance in the medical and veterinary fields, being responsible for about 59 thousand deaths each year in the world. The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the health sector is propitious and has been adopted by human and animal health professionals as an important tool in spatial analyses of health. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review on the geoprocessing and spatial analysis techniques adopted for mapping risk areas of human and animal leptospirosis. The articles were collected on scientific platforms by entering the following terms: SIG/GIS, leptospirose/leptospirosis, area de risco/risk area and distribuicao espacial/spatial distribution, and included in the study if they met the following criteria: a) publication in the period from 1998 to 2017; b) identification of risk areas and/or spatial distribution of leptospirosis as one of the research topics; and c) application of GIS in the methodology. As a result, we found 40 articles, published by 15 different countries, which adopted GIS for the spatial analysis and identification of risk areas of leptospirosis. Among these, only 45% (18) conducted an spatial statistical analysis. Brazil and USA had the highest numbers of publications, 16 and 7 articles, respectively. From 2007, the use of GIS and spatial analysis techniques, applied to the theme of this study, have been intensified and diversified, and 93% of the articles elected for this review were published from 2007 to 2017. The results point to a progressive interest of health professionals in applying these techniques for monitoring and conducting epidemiological analyses of leptospirosis, besides indicating a greater need for intersectoral integration between health professionals and others, in the use of spatial analysis and GIS techniques.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flowchart of the procedure for including articles in the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Map of the global distribution in number of articles published by countries from 1998 to 2017.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Cloud of words representing the distribution of their frequencies in the abstracts of the analyzed articles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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